France
Wushu
My name is Loan Drouard. I am 23 years old, from France, and a member of the French Wushu team. I first discovered Shaolin Kungfu through a Shaolin documentary that I watched when I was seven. From that day on, I kept talking about it to my parents, saying that one day, I would also achieve my dreams. At that time, my dream was to become a Shaolin monk :). I obviously had no idea what that truly meant, but it motivated me to eventually discover Wushu. I started practicing two years after watching that documentary at a traditional Shaolin school in China. My parents and I decided to go there for three weeks during the summer vacation to see if it was something I would enjoy, and I immediately fell in love with it. I did part of my studies in Chinese Shaolin schools to continue training. Since I turned 18, I have been a full-time Wushu athlete, striving to become a world champion and much more. I am currently a double European champion, nine-time French champion, The World Games medalist, and placed fourth at the 2024 World Cup.
Full time Wushu athlete since 2020
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2021 - Best french Wushu athlete award 2024 - Athlete of the Month (IWUF)
3rd Place in Taolu (Daoshu/Gunshu) at The World Games 2022
7th and 6th Place in Taolu (Daoshu/Gunshu) at the 2023 World Championships
4th and 5th Place in Taolu (Daoshu/Gunshu) at the 2024 World Cup
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Dear fellow athletes, Coming from a niche sport, I understand the challenges of gaining visibility, funding, and recognition. We all strive for excellence and pursue our dreams. I want to push for greater exposure for non-mainstream sports and funding solutions that benefit us all. With years of international competition experience and a unique journey as a pioneer in my sport, I understand our needs firsthand. Together, we can drive change and elevate every IWGA sport and athlete—for better performance and greater heights. We can make an impact together—we have to!
I know what it’s like to be part of a non-famous sport. Striving for performance and excellence is not only harder—it is a whole sport project we have to focus on. I want to help by popularizing The World Games.
My story, my decisions, and my journey. Like many athletes, I used to struggle in many aspects of my sport project, and when so many years of our lives, emotions, and time are spent on this, it can be hard.
I do think that my story is a path that many athletes can relate to. This journey has been sometimes lonely, sometimes happy, sometimes hard, but our dreams unite us all, and we keep pursuing them.
My whole sport project management. In a sport like Wushu, training in proper conditions is definitely not easy compared to Asia. So it inevitably involves many travels and often very little information.
I was introduced to sports through my dad, who focused on endurance sports. But I was always drawn to agile, free-flowing sports like climbing and parkour.
It has taught me—and continues to teach me—so much in so many areas of life. It gave me purpose, dreams, strength, confidence, and ultimately, a deep love for life. I feel incredibly fortunate.
Promote visibility and development for underrepresented disciplines which are part of The World Games. Ensure optimal conditions and support for all sports. Promote The World Games event.
Enthusiastic, dreamer, passionate
Wushu, and one of the reasons I am so passionate about it is this never-ending quest for striving for technical excellence. I am also mostly passionate about creative activities like composing music.
Because we are the ones who actually play and practice the sports. We do what we do because we love our sport, so who is more aware of the current state of their sport than the athletes themselves?
